Overbilling is something that all consumers of legal services should know about and protect themselves from. There are several actions that a client can and should take to protect itself from possible overbilling abuses such as those alleged in the DLA Piper matter.

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Steven, this is a thorough article with many great tips. Unfortunately, billing fraud is major epidemic in the US. Because itâs hard to prove, the majority of overbilling cases go unnoticed or unchallenged. We were trying to find ways to protect ourselves against overbilled when we developed www.TransparentBusiness.com in 2008. Our goal was to minimize risks associated with employing lawyers, experts, and contract workers on several continent. The solution we developed stores detailed profiles on each lawyer or contract worker and automatically keeps track of who is working on which project, how many hours they have spent on a project, what sort of progress they have made during that time, and whether or not they are working within budget. Screenshots are captured every 3 minutes to show the employeeâs process and progress. In our own experience, productivity rose significantly when we began using TransparentBusiness. And we were able to account for every hour that we were being billed by contractors. Because we could see the activities of lawyers and contractors in real time, we are never surprised by a bill and are able to adjust budgets and strategies as needed.

Last year we decided to make TransparentBusiness available for free to individuals and small businesses and, for a modest fee, to larger companies and corporations. To see how this powerful tool protects against overbilling, watch this short video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VocWYCKWurg